Sciomancy (skill)

Sciomancy is the dangerous art of channeling Czjetija, the Plane of Shadow through one's own body. At considerable risk to themselves, a trained Sciomancer can exert control over this potent power of shadow and use it to devour their enemies. One can never be too careful when using the powers of Shadow, for reckless misuse of the power may turn them Shadowbound.

Abilities

Skill	Rank	Percent	Description
Channel	Inept	0%	Link yourself to the plane of Shadow.
Blast	Novice	0%	Batter your foe with a burst of shadow energy.
Chill	Apprentice	0%	Draw the heat from your victim.
Nightsight	Apprentice	50%	Gaze through your domain.
Engulf	Capable	0%	Move among the shadows.
Hew	Capable	50%	Scythe through their protections.
Ruin	Adept	0%	Wreck their body with malignant force.
Shadeling	Adept	33%	A useful minion of shadow.
Scourge	Adept	66%	Disrupt their mental faculties.
Shadowprice	Skilled	0%	Empower your spells, at a cost.
Gloom	Skilled	33%	A deep despair to cloud the mind.
Shaderot	Skilled	66%	Shadows will consume them.
Repay	Gifted	0%	All debts must be settled.
Focus	Gifted	33%	Create a magical focus for easier spellcasting.
Purity	Gifted	66%	The purity of Shadow.
Leech	Expert	0%	Leech maladies from your body.
Voidgaze	Expert	33%	Force them to stare into the abyss.
Morph	Expert	66%	Imitate another with your shadeling.
Shadowbrand	Virtuoso	0%	Mark them with a symbol of destruction.
Fever	Virtuoso	33%	A feverish curse of shadows.
Mantle	Virtuoso	66%	Guard yourself with a cloak of the night.
Shadowsphere	Fabled	0%	No light may escape your void.
Devour	Fabled	33%	Your shadeling hungers.
Haunt	Fabled	66%	Summon a shadowy spectre to torment them.
Forgive	Mythical	0%	Respite from one's obligations.
Falter	Mythical	50%	Let their weakness be their downfall.
Consume	Transcendent	0%	Leave no trace behind.

Channel
Syntax:	CHANNELS
Description:	CHANNEL SHADOW In order to harness the power of the elements, you must first open a channel to the superior realm of Shadow. Once you have opened a channel to that realm, you will be able to make repeated use of spells that require that element. You can close your channel to Shadow at any time by severing it. There is no cost to keeping it active. The bearer of the Shadow Mark will find they have no need to channel Shadow, for they maintain a constant connection to that realm.

Blast
Syntax:	CAST BLAST <target>
Description:	CAST BLAST ICEWALL [<direction>] Form and send a blast of shadow energy to strike out at your foe. You can also melt an icewall obstructing a path with it.

Chill
Syntax:	CAST CHILL <target>
Description:	Use the shadows surrounding you to draw their warmth away, chilling your target one stage. If the shadowprice is paid, this ability will first strip caloric if present.

Nightsight
Syntax:	NIGHTSIGHT
Description:	See easily through the shadows that surround you.

Engulf
Syntax:	CAST ENGULF <ON/OFF>
Description:	Let night mask your movements - whenever you attempt to move through a room covered in darkness, your movement will be completely concealed. Lifevision may spot this attempt, but heatvision cannot.

Hew
Syntax:	CAST HEW <target>
Description:	Call upon the shadows to slice through any magical shields surrounding your target. If the shadowprice is paid, there is no equilibrium cost for this ability if it is successful. Failed attempts will incur the debt as well as the equilibrium cost.

Ruin
Syntax:	CAST RUIN <target>
Description:	Shadow is the element of consumption, and devouring the physical body of your foe is well within its purview. When inflicting ruin upon them, first you will cause clumsiness. If already clumsy, you will cause weariness. If already weary and clumsy, they will be struck with lethargy. In all cases, the ruin will cause moderate magical damage. If all three afflictions are present, you will steal away their focus balance and cause paresis. If the shadowprice is paid, your ruin will cause two afflictions in order instead of one. If paresis is delivered in this way, no focus knock will be applied.

Shadeling
Syntax:	CAST SHADELING
Description:	ORDER SHADELING ATTACK <target> CALL ELEMENTALS Summon forth a being of shadow to assist you in your plight. The shadeling can be ordered to attack your enemies, and will periodically cause cold damage and one level of freezing to your target. If your victim is fully frozen when the shadeling strikes, they will be stunned and afflicted with nyctophobia.

Scourge
Syntax:	CAST SCOURGE <target>
Description:	Shadow can cause various maladies to the body and mind as it eats away at all the other elements within your foe. When scourged, your victim will suffer immediately from one of the following afflictions that they don't already have: dizziness, nyctophobia, confusion, dementia. If all four afflictions are present on the target, they will instead be struck with a significant mana drain and faintness. If the shadowprice is paid, the scourge will relapse once more five seconds later. If your intended victim leaves the room in this time, however, you will be scourged instead.

Shadowprice
Syntax:	SHADOWPRICE <spell> <target>
Description:	Empowers your spells by letting Shadow channel through your body with each cast. With every successive cast of shadowprice to empower a shadow spell, the risks and rewards increase. For now, you may call upon the shadowprice twice, and not again until the previous debts are paid. Your shadow debt is slowly forgiven, and so long as you do not use the shadowprice for a time, you will replenish your charges free of any cost. Shadowprice is used as a replacement for the normal CAST command. e.g. SHADOWPRICE RUIN <target>

Gloom
Syntax:	CAST GLOOM <target>
Description:	Infuse your victim with a despairing curse, giving them a chance to become burdened with phobias any time they focus. If standing in darkness, nyctophobia is always the first phobia to appear. The phobias this can afflict with are nyctophobia, agoraphobia, loneliness, vertigo, claustrophobia and fear of commitment. Gloom can be cured by applying epidermal to one's head, but only if unblind. When used to cure gloom, epidermal incurs a short time before the affliction resolves, and becoming blind while this occurs will cause it to instead cure blindness once more. If your victim is already in despair from a gloom, any further attempts to use gloom on them will be ineffective. If the shadowprice is paid, this may be performed free of any equilibrium cost.

Shaderot
Syntax:	CAST ROT <target>
Description:	Send a malignant curse of shadow to infiltrate your victim, feeding upon the shadows you cast upon them. At first, the rot is benign, and has no meaningful effect. However, the rot will grow over time, and its effects too will increase. The rot may grow four times after the first stage. 1) No effect. 2) Their spirit gradually atrophies, causing escalating shadow damage. 3) Their body ceases to generate heat - preventing application of the caloric defence. 4) Their flesh withers under the shade, periodically causing lethargy. 5) Their body falters - the recovery time from poultices is doubled. Shadow rot may be cured by consuming panacea. If standing outside of the presence of a singularity, two stacks will be cured instead of one. If the shadowprice is paid, you will deliver two stacks of shaderot immediately.

Repay
Syntax:	CAST REPAY
Description:	Repay the shadowprice instantly, costing you a moderate amount of health and restoring a charge of shadowprice. If used in succession, the repayment becomes much more dangerous and will cost equilibrium. Whenever you slay a target, one of your shadow debts will be repaid for free.

Focus
Syntax:	CAST CREATE FOCUS
Description:	EMBED FOCUS IN <weapon> Though the crystals extracted from the Master Crystal are no longer suitable for the arts of Crystalism, they now seem to grant you a better control of the shadows. Excise a focus from the Master Crystal while you are standing before it, and the focus can then be embedded into either a staff, shortsword, or a crozier. Should you be wielding such an object containing a focus crystal, you will be able to control the shadows with greater ease. Your spells will no longer require both hands, only a single hand. Additionally, parrying an attack will charge your focus crystal with magical energy, restoring a portion of your mana instantly.

Purity
Syntax:	CAST PURITY <ON/OFF>
Description:	Focus on maintaining the purity of shadow, switching all of your Sciomancy damaging attacks to use shadow-type damage in exchange for a small drain to your willpower. This will cause your attacks to do less overall damage however.

Leech
Syntax:	CAST LEECH
Description:	Draw upon the shadows to leech two random maladies from your body. Should you be suffering from paralysis or paresis, leech will always cure that first, and only that. If the shadowprice is paid, you can append an affliction name to the syntax to specify one of the afflictions that should be cured. This will only work on afflictions that leech can normally cure.

Voidgaze
Syntax:	CAST VOIDGAZE <target>
Description:	If your target is not blind, you can create the image of a void before them, causing them to stare hopelessly into its depths. So long as the voidgaze remains uncured, they will quickly receive the following afflictions in order: weariness, clumsiness, vomiting, dementia. If all four afflictions are present when the voidgaze ticks, your victim will become trapped in the void, rendering them prone and unable to stand for a period of time. If the shadowprice is paid, your voidgaze will strip blindness when applied.

Morph
Syntax:	CAST MORPH <target>
Description:	Order your shadeling to change its form into an inky caricature of your chosen target. Should the shadeling take any damage or attempt to attack someone, this effect will become undone. Can only be done on targets in the room.

Shadowbrand
Syntax:	CAST BRAND <target>
Description:	Weave a brand of shadows to cover your foe, causing elixirs to lose some of their potency, reducing the amount healed to health or mana this way by 20%. The strength of the brand is dependent on how low your victim's mana is - the shadowbrand will never last for fewer than two sips, and no more than five. There is a short channel associated with performing this ability. If the shadowprice is paid, your shadowbrand is applied instantly, and for slightly less equilibrium.

Fever
Syntax:	CAST FEVER <target>
Description:	Infect them with a feverous curse, causing vomiting and haemophilia. If the shadowprice is paid, this ability is much quicker to use.

Mantle
Syntax:	CAST MANTLE
Description:	Surround yourself in a cloak of shadow, reducing the damage taken from the elements, and significantly reducing the damage taken from shadow. Those wearing the mantle can bear up to four shadow debts at once.

Shadowsphere
Syntax:	CAST SPHERE <target>
Description:	Engulf your victim in a dark void, draining all color from their vision. While surrounded by this void, afflictions delivered from Scourge will be masked, and shaderot cannot be cured. The more afflictions plaguing your foe, the longer the shadowsphere will persist. A victim who fears the darkness will suffer even longer still. There is a cooldown on using this ability. If the shadowprice is paid, your shadowsphere also delivers nyctophobia, and for slightly less equilibrium.

Devour
Syntax:	CAST DEVOUR <ON/OFF>
Description:	Your shadeling hungers for corpses. Should anything die in the same location as your shadeling while it is with you, your shadeling will immediately devour the corpse and restore some willpower to you. An adventurer's corpse will restore a lot more willpower than a denizen's. There is a small cooldown on this effect occuring, as the shadeling needs time to digest.

Haunt
Syntax:	CAST HAUNT <target>
Description:	Conjure a spectral force to possess your victim, periodically sapping their mana. The haunting force will persist for a short time, but will vanish if your victim leaves your sight. If the shadowprice is paid, your haunt will persist indefinitely in your presence.

Forgive
Syntax:	CAST FORGIVE
Description:	In a grand gesture of servitude, request that the shadows forgive all your debts. Once per a while, you will instantly recharge all outstanding shadowprice charges, but be warned - this action will leave you severely weakened in body and mind.

Falter
Syntax:	CAST FALTER <target>
Description:	Should your victim be afflicted with maladies caused by shadows, you can use them as an opportunity for your own victory. This spell does nothing on its own, but can have any or all of the following effects depending on what they are afflicted by: Haemophilia: Causes significant bleeding. Nyctophobia: Causes significant health and mana damage. Dizziness: Causes dementia. Weariness: Causes exhaustion. If the shadowprice is paid, one of these missing conditional afflictions will be applied at random before the spell completes.

Consume
Syntax:	CAST CONSUME <target>
Description:	Drawing upon your mastered link to the plane of Shadow, you may call forth a force that will annihilate your foe where they stand. Your victim must be prone and suffering from a fear of darkness to begin, and such a feat requires complete concentration. Should your attempt be successful, your victim will be erased from reality entirely, and any shadow debts you have drawn will be immediately forgiven. If the shadowprice is paid, your attempt will be quickened slightly, and more importantly, no force may disrupt it other than your opponent leaving your presence. If this attempt fails, however, your own body will be consumed to repay this grave debt.